‘ Would like it if I could vote in Kannur while I was in Kochi ’

It was seven years ago that Siddharth S Nair voted for the last
time. That means he has been unable to keep the promise he made to
himself in 2009, that he would vote in every election because voting, he
believes, is a moral duty.

"After I became eligible to vote in 2006, I voted for the first
time in Kannur in the 2009 Lok Sabha
elections. That day, I realised the power of the vote," he
said. He was diligent, too, about sticking to his promise and says
that although he pursued higher studies outside Kerala, he "bunked
classes and came to vote for the local body and Kerala
assembly polls in 2010 and 2011, respectively".

But things changed when his parents moved to Kochi in 2012 and he
landed a job at an IT firm in the city. Since then, Nair has not
been able to vote as he couldn't take leave on voting day to go to
his home town, where he is still enrolled as a voter. As his
personal and professional commitments increased, he found it
increasingly difficult to travel 250 km "just to vote".

Nair represents a group that can't vote despite being in the same
state: there are hundreds of such Malayali IT professionals who are
unable to travel and vote, thus adding to the lost votes.

"I want to vote but circumstances are not in my favour at times.
Voting is not top priority now. But if I get a chance to vote in
Kannur while sitting here in Kochi, I would love that," he
said.

Nair thought about transferring his vote to Kochi, but felt that
would be impractical as 'one day' he would like to return home. But
he believes technology can solve the problem. "We can implement
secure, transparent and foolproof systems that enable voters to
vote from anywhere in the world. Many countries have that
facility," he said.